Download View Extended Abstract

INTER-REGIONAL POWER GRID PLANNING UP TO 2030 IN CHINA
CONSIDERING RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND REGIONAL
POLLUTANT CONTROL: A MULTI-REGION BOTTOM-UP
OPTIMIZATION MODEL
Jun-Jun Jia, School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Phone +86 59358810, E-mail:
[email protected]
Bo-Wen Yi, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, , Phone +86 59358810, E-mail: [email protected]
Jin-Hua Xu, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Phone +86 59358810, E-mail: [email protected]
Ying Fan, School of Economics & Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China, Phone +86 59358810,
E-mail: [email protected]
Overview
China’s industrialization and urbanization reforms have led to the rapid growth in electricity consumption from
2477.2 TWh in 2005 to 5523.3 TWh in 2014 (CEPYEB, 2006; CEC, 2015), which caused serious environmental
pollution and climate change problems. In 2013, the sulfur dioxide (SO 2) emissions of China’s power sector reached
8.2 million tons (Mt), accounting for 40.1% of national total emissions. Meanwhile, the nitrogen oxide (NOx)
emissions reached 8.34 Mt, accounting for 37.4% of national total (MEP, 2014). Especially in the developed eastern
coastal areas, the bad weather caused by excessive coal combustion occurs frequently. Optimizing the power
structure and regional distribution has become a major issue faced by China' power sector.
However, China’s energy resources and electricity load show reverse distribution, along with serious imbalance of
energy supply and demand between eastern and western regions. The power demand in resource-rich northwest
region is relatively low, causing a part of clean energy cannot be consumed. In contrary, the natural resources in high
power demand regions such as eastern China are scarce. Therefore, these regions need to meet their electricity
demands mainly by thermal power, which not only leads to the problem of environmental pollution, but also
increases the inter-regional coal transportation. With the maturity of ultra high voltage (UHV) power transmission
technology, large-capacity long-distance power transmission is becoming more and more feasible. In this context,
inter-regional power transmission has been considered to be a key strategic measure to balance the national resources
allocation and to satisfy various regional long-term benefits in China. Our work quantifies the inter-regional power
dispatch by considering the investment, operation and maintenance, and substitution of different power transmission
technologies over planning horizon. Our model further simulates the flow of natural resources by introducing an
inter-regional coal transportation sub-module into the conventional power dispatch and capacity expansion model,
which enables to compare the economic benefits of power transmission and coal transportation more accurately
Methods
Multi-region power dispatch and capacity expansion model
Results
In the BAU scenario, UHV lines will become the main carrier of inter-regional power transmission in the future.
In the BAU scenario, there are some results beyond expectation, which differ from the existing transmission
pathways greatly.
The influence of inter-regional power transmission under no policy restraint
By the comparison between FRO and BAU scenarios, we could analyze the effects of inter-regional power
transmission on each regional power sector under no policy target situation.
Firstly, from the economic perspective, the construction of transmission line between some regions such as from
Northeast_EIM to North_Other, and from Northwest_Other to Central_Other, is more economical.
Secondly, inter-regional power transmission will play an important role in promoting the development of
renewable energy, especially for Northeast_EIM and Northwest_Other regions.
Thirdly, inter-regional power transmission can effectively reduce the emissions of air pollutants in North_Other,
South_Guangdong, Central_Other, and eastern regions, but have limited effect on the national total emissions.
Conclusions
In this study, a multi-region power dispatch and capacity expansion optimization model is developed from the
perspective of bottom-up modeling. Power transmission technologies are considered in detail. Moreover, the submodule of inter-regional coal transportation is introduced into the model. Based on above framework, this study
quantitatively analyzes the optimum inter-regional power transmission planning under different energy and
environmental policy targets, and its impact on power sector, resource utilization, and environmental state of each
area from a long-term perspective. The main conclusions are as follows.
The construction of transmission line between some regions rich in resources and regions with high demand can
bring economic savings.
The optimal evolution pathways differ greatly under different policy targets. Therefore, the inter-regional power
transmission planning needs to be closely integrated with the macro energy and environmental goals.
References
[1] Abdollahi, E., Wang, H., Lahdelma, R., 2016. An optimization method for multi-area combined heat and power
production with power transmission network. Applied Energy 168, 248-256.
[2] Balash, P., Nichols, C., Victor, N., 2013. Multi-regional evaluation of the U.S. electricity sector under
technology and policy uncertainties: Findings from MARKAL EPA9rUS modeling. Socio-Economic Planning
Sciences 47 (2), 89-119.
[3] Bird, L., Chapman, C., Logan, J., Summer, J., Short, W., 2011. Evaluating renewable portfolio standards and
carbon cap scenarios in the U.S. electric sector. Energy Policy 39 (5), 2573-2585.
[4] Cao. Y., Wang, X., Li, Y., Tan, Y., Xing, J., Fan, R., 2016. A comprehensive study on low-carbon impact of
distributed generations on regional power grids: A case of Jiangxi provincial power grid in China. Renewable
and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53, 766-778.
[5] Chang, Y., Li, Y., 2013. Power generation and cross-border grid planning for the integrated ASEAN electricity
market: A dynamic linear programming model. Energy Strategy Reviews 2 (2), 153-160.
[6] Chang, Y., Li, Y., 2015. Renewable energy and policy options in an integrated ASEAN electricity market:
Quantitative assessments and policy implications. Energy Policy 85, 39-49.
[7] Chen, H., Tang, B., Liao, H., Wei, Y., 2016a. A multi-period power generation planning model incorporating the
non-carbon external costs: A case study of China. Applied Energy 183, 1333-1345.
[8] Chen, Q., Kang, C., Xia, Q., Guan, D., 2011. Preliminary exploration on low-carbon technology roadmap of
China’s power sector. Energy 36 (3), 1500-1512.
[9] Chen, Y., He, L., Li, J., Cheng, X., Lu, H., 2016b. An inexact bi-level simulation-optimization model for
conjunctive regional renewable energy planning and air pollution control for electric power generation systems.
Applied Energy 183, 969-983.